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<title>What Comes After by Constantine_You_Owe_Me</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23112664">What Comes After</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Constantine_You_Owe_Me/pseuds/Constantine_You_Owe_Me'>Constantine_You_Owe_Me</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Life and Times- A&amp;G [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Twilight Series - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic, Fluff, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:55:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,118</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23112664</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Constantine_You_Owe_Me/pseuds/Constantine_You_Owe_Me</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A short look into the days after Aro and Garrett's brief foray into the land of the Gods.</p><p>Life starts again for the two of them and there is a lot to learn.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aro/Garrett (Twilight)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Life and Times- A&amp;G [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1661350</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>What Comes After</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">What Comes After</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Be like a love that discovered the sin</em>
</p><p>
  <em>That freed the first man, would do so again</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Once the dust had settled on all that happened between them, Garrett and Aro had come out at the end of it alive and well, and if not a little… mortal. </p><p> </p><p>They both needed to process everything that had happened, and so as an act of proof to show the Volturi were turning over a new leaf Caius offered their protection to the two of them. </p><p> </p><p>Aro and Garrett would suffer no consequences under the Volturi's protection and would remain safe from any vampires hoping to find the ex-leader and exact revenge upon him. </p><p> </p><p>If they could find him they would be rather surprised at what they'd find. A mature man and his husband who looked to be about twenty or so years younger than him. </p><p> </p><p>Their friends referred to Garrett as a toyboy and it wore thin quickly much to the delight of Bianca and Kate. They continued to foist the nickname onto Garrett right up until he left them behind in Italy. </p><p> </p><p>The flight home had them sat in a comfortable and gentle sort of quiet. Both men knew they needed to be alone with their thoughts but remained close to one another. </p><p> </p><p>They had to relearn a lot of human behaviours and had to learn everything about their own bodies- hunger, thirst, hot-blooded lust… the pain of a paper cut that once would seem so inconsequential that it would be given not even a seconds worth of time to think of… to understand being physically tired again, or to feel an ache in their bones and muscles. </p><p> </p><p>Everything was new. </p><p> </p><p>But at least they both agreed that coffee was the holy grail and it perked them up after their long flight home. </p><p> </p><p>Initially, they had wanted to leave the airport as soon as they could but what with flight delays, amongst other things, they had to battle crowds of tired travellers to claim their luggage from the carousel. </p><p> </p><p>This resulted in Garrett vanishing off for a good 30 minutes only to return with hot coffee. It had taken some cajoling for Aro to entertain the idea of drinking it but once he tried it he was hooked. </p><p> </p><p>It certainly woke the two of them from their zombie-like state. </p><p> </p><p>Enough so that they chatted idly about nothing in the cab back to Garrett's small apartment in New Orleans. Or rather, as idly as two can when buzzing on a caffeine high for the first time in their lives. </p><p> </p><p>Oh, and how happy Garrett was to see that little slice of home again with his own two eyes. </p><p> </p><p>Practically jumped out of the cab before it had fully stopped moving, one hand jammed into his jacket pocket searching out his keys between receipts and gum wrappers.</p><p> </p><p>Gum was a thing he loved now too. In the short time he had been human so far he relished in the minty sweetness. </p><p> </p><p>It was the sensation of chewing without having to eat. A slow way of getting used to food again he had said. Eating repulsed both of them and it took them a long time to get a feel for it. </p><p> </p><p>Hunger pangs hurried the process along but finding flavours and textures they both enjoyed left a long road ahead of them until they were functioning mortals. </p><p> </p><p>But at least they were home! </p><p> </p><p>There was some fumbling with keys as Garrett tried to unlock the door with a speed his body just wasn't capable of any longer. </p><p> </p><p>But it was enough. All of what he was now felt enough and he couldn't remember a time where he felt this happy in the past. </p><p> </p><p>"Hey, we can say time is of the essence now and sound convincing." Garrett quipped as they lugged Aro's heavy luggage set through the door to their tiny home. </p><p> </p><p>"Yes, because I've waited my whole life for that saying to have meaning." The bland response from his husband only made Garrett brighter and he tossed a grin at Aro from over his shoulder. </p><p> </p><p>"Can we get a dog?" The question had come from nowhere, or so it seemed. All the while, Garrett was struggling through the hallway door into the main part of the house, shoving luggage this way and that trying to angle it to get it through the door. </p><p> </p><p>Stupid too small doors… dumb too big luggage. </p><p> </p><p>Eventually, after watching with amusement for a short while, Aro deftly kicks one of the suitcases and it sails through the door and slides to a stop against the opposite wall with a light thud.</p><p> </p><p>"A dog?" He asks. Ignoring that he'd essentially done foot magic getting the biggest suitcase through such a small doorway! "Is it imperative to your survival?" Smoothly asked but obviously rhetorical and he looked insanely smug when Garrett rolled his eyes trudged into the lounge without responding. </p><p> </p><p>Later, once they had settled somewhat and had attempted unpacking, Aro left Garrett to his own devices in the bedroom as he tried valiantly to build their new bed without help. </p><p> </p><p>The older man took this opportunity to sort through the books piled around the kitchen. Seeing as they would now need a functional kitchen the books had to be shelved- the whole place needed to have some semblance of order. </p><p> </p><p>As he was browsing a particularly interesting tome on longships that had been, for whatever reason, stuffed in the oven along with an ancient thesaurus and a wildly outdated road map for Alaska, Garrett appeared at the door to the lounge and watched him silently for a moment. </p><p> </p><p>"Yes."</p><p> </p><p>Aro looked up from the book closing it as his attention was taken up by his husband. "What?"</p><p> </p><p>"You asked earlier if my life depended on having a dog. Well, yes, it does." It was said with such conviction that Aro almost believed him.</p><p> </p><p>Instead he set the book aside and put his hands on his hips. His head tilted to the side assessing Garrett for a moment trying in vain to find a reason to say no, to find a legitimate reason why they couldn't have a dog. </p><p> </p><p>There was no reason. They could do whatever they wanted. There were no prying eyes to cast judgement over their decisions. </p><p> </p><p>If Garrett wanted a dog he would get one. </p><p> </p><p>So, with a sigh he dropped his hands to his side and nodded. </p><p> </p><p>"Alright, we'll get a dog. But you're the one taking care of it." </p><p> </p><p>Rolling his eyes Garrett turned away from Aro but the older man saw the air punch of victory as he walked out of the room and out of view. </p><p> </p>
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